Italics for foreign names (universities, companies, schools, organisations...)
Thread poster: Caroline Varella Gonsioroski
Caroline Varella Gonsioroski
Caroline Varella Gonsioroski
Ireland
Local time: 15:08
English to Portuguese
+ ...
Feb 25, 2021

Hi, guys

I hope I am typing this doubt on the right place.

I am translating a diploma from Portuguese into English and as usual I do not translate university and school names unless they are already translated on their website (so Wikipedia does not count).

In this case, should I put the university name in italics every time?

What are your views about this? Does everybody leaves institution and company names untranslated?

I just wa
... See more
Hi, guys

I hope I am typing this doubt on the right place.

I am translating a diploma from Portuguese into English and as usual I do not translate university and school names unless they are already translated on their website (so Wikipedia does not count).

In this case, should I put the university name in italics every time?

What are your views about this? Does everybody leaves institution and company names untranslated?

I just wanted to know how other Translators do in this case and what do they think about it.

Thank you!
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Tina Vonhof (X)
Tina Vonhof (X)
Canada
Local time: 09:08
Dutch to English
+ ...
No italics Feb 25, 2021

I use italics only for the titles of published material: books, poems, magazines, and newspapers. Sometimes these may need a translation in parentheses.

Other foreign names get capitals in each word (other than 'and' or 'of'). There are no hard and fast rules for translating them. You can translate the word 'university' but not the name. Longer or more complex names, such as those of most organizations, may need translation but you can put the original name in arentheses after the
... See more
I use italics only for the titles of published material: books, poems, magazines, and newspapers. Sometimes these may need a translation in parentheses.

Other foreign names get capitals in each word (other than 'and' or 'of'). There are no hard and fast rules for translating them. You can translate the word 'university' but not the name. Longer or more complex names, such as those of most organizations, may need translation but you can put the original name in arentheses after the translation. An abbreviated name or acronym needs an explanation/translation in parentheses after it. Company names should be left as they are but if they consist of multiple words, they may also need an explanation/translation in parentheses.
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Caroline Varella Gonsioroski
Caroline Varella Gonsioroski
Ireland
Local time: 15:08
English to Portuguese
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
. Feb 26, 2021

Thank you for you reply, Tina!

I guess there is no written rule for this. You say we can translate 'university' but not the name, although 'university' is part of the name. Such as 'Pontificia Universidade Catolica', which is not a very good example because this one has a translation, but you know what I mean? Or you translate the whole name or nothing at all.

As per the rest, I do the same


 
William Bowley
William Bowley
United Kingdom
Local time: 15:08
Spanish to English
+ ...
Consistency Mar 2, 2021

As a rule, never translate company names. I can't think of a reason to. By translating the company name, you risk your translation no longer referring to the actual company but to some other entity (your 'creation').

This is not the same for institution names as clearly they commonly exist in other languages. No italics.

If the client has no specific style requirements, I agree with your point about translating all or nothing. Whatever you choose (leaving institution in
... See more
As a rule, never translate company names. I can't think of a reason to. By translating the company name, you risk your translation no longer referring to the actual company but to some other entity (your 'creation').

This is not the same for institution names as clearly they commonly exist in other languages. No italics.

If the client has no specific style requirements, I agree with your point about translating all or nothing. Whatever you choose (leaving institution in source language, source language with target translation in brackets, or direct translation into target language), it's important to be consistent.
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Tony Keily
Tony Keily
Local time: 16:08
Italian to English
+ ...
No italics... Mar 2, 2021

...for institutional names. You're never wrong to use the native name of university, but you're right that often this is translated on websites.

Translating institutional names is a bit risky though. Just think of Dublin, which has UCD, TCD and DCU, which are respective University College Dublin, the University of Dublin (Trinity) and Dublin City University.


 


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Italics for foreign names (universities, companies, schools, organisations...)







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